FACT CHECK: Old Remulla video misused to falsely claim Dela Rosa has no ICC warrant

A January 2026 interview clip released months before the ICC unsealed the warrant recirculated on social media and was falsely presented as a current update on Dela Rosa’s arrest

AT A GLANCE

• A video clip circulating on social media misrepresents an old interview where Remulla discussed Dela Rosa's status amid rumors of an ICC warrant, which was not public at the time.
• As of now, a valid ICC arrest warrant exists for Dela Rosa, who is accused of murder related to the drug war, and he has gone into hiding with a bounty placed on him.

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Claim: Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla said there is no arrest warrant against Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: A reel posted on November 6 by the Facebook page “Pobre Nga Uyamot” shows an interview clip of Remulla with the overlaid text, “Klaro walang warrant (Clearly no warrant).”

Additional overlaid text read: “Walang kaso si Bato sa Pinas! Pag lumaban, mamatay pulis order sa taas ma-blame! High risk! Law of the land pa rin.”

(Bato has no case in the Philippines! If he fights back, police will die and whoever gave the order will be blamed! High risk! The law of the land still applies.)

In the clip, Remulla says: “Si Bato, ano hahanapin namin? ‘Di ba, alam naming nasa Davao siya. Pero wala naman kaming warrant of arrest. Wala. So bakit namin hahanapin? Ba’t namin aarestuhin? Kung gusto niya, siya [ang] mag-citizen’s arrest.” 

(Why will we search for Bato? We know he’s in Davao, but we don’t have an arrest warrant. None. So why would we search for him? Why would we arrest him? If he wants to, let him make a citizen’s arrest.)

As of writing, the video has 2.5 million views, 15,000 reactions, 2,300 comments, and 3,400 shares. 

The facts: The clip is old and was misleadingly presented as a current update on Dela Rosa’s status as a subject of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant.

The clip was from Remulla’s January 27, 2026 interview on ANC, during which he addressed former senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s suggestion to search for Dela Rosa, who at the time had not been attending Senate sessions amid rumors of an ICC warrant against him.

Remulla then made the remark shown in the Facebook reel, adding that he would personally go to Davao to fetch Dela Rosa. He also suggested that Trillanes could carry out a citizen’s arrest if such a warrant existed.

At the time Remulla said this, the ICC warrant had not been made public. The ICC’s records show it was issued as secret on November 6, 2025, and unsealed only on May 11, 2026, several months after the interview from which the clip was taken.

Dela Rosa is accused of murder for crimes against humanity involving at least 32 killings between July 2016 and April 2018 under the bloody drug war of former president Rodrigo Duterte. 

What happened after January: In May, the Supreme Court denied Dela Rosa’s request for a temporary restraining order seeking to block the ICC warrant. Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida then said a valid ICC arrest warrant exists and is now enforceable, allowing the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to effect the senator’s arrest. 

Dela Rosa went into hiding shortly after the warrant was issued and is now the subject of a P50-million bounty. (READ: Bato dela Rosa’s escape: Timeline, analyses, opinions from experts)

Manhunt for Dela Rosa: On October 23, Remulla described Dela Rosa as “armed and dangerous.” He also warned that an attempt to arrest the senator by force could result in a “bloodbath.”

Dela Rosa’s camp continues to dispute how the warrant can be enforced. His lawyers argue that no local court has issued an arrest warrant and that the bounty cannot replace domestic judicial procedures that they said were necessary before the senator could be arrested. 

Authorities have received at least 500 tips about Dela Rosa’s whereabouts, PNP chief General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said on November 9. The NBI has said it hopes to arrest the senator before the year ends. – Cyril Bocar/Rappler.com

Efren Cyril Bocar is a journalist from Llorente, Eastern Samar who graduated with a degree in English Language Studies at the Visayas State University. Cyril is also a graduate of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2024. 

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